Charlotte is the office manager at a busy professional services firm. She’s spent six months planning the company **ski trip**. Thirty people. Deposits paid. Everybody’s excited.
Charlotte has thought of everything.
Except the **PEOPLE NOT SKIING**.
There’s Maya, who has a mobility condition nobody asked about. There’s James, whose religion makes the après-ski bar culture deeply uncomfortable but felt he couldn’t say no. There’s Priya, who is eight weeks pregnant and hasn’t told anyone yet. And there’s Dev, who said yes because saying no felt like career suicide.
By day two, none of them are on the slopes. They’re in the chalet. Together. Open bar. No structure. Nothing to do.
By evening, something has happened that Charlotte never saw coming.
Because Charlotte was too close to the excitement to see the risk.
A work trip with 30 employees, alcohol, a remote location and people with undisclosed needs isn’t just a logistics challenge. It’s a situation nobody planned for and nobody’s ready for. And yes, the new harassment duty covers what happens off-site too.
No risk assessment. No conduct policy. No pre-departure briefing.
No defence.
✅ 3 THINGS CHARLOTTE SHOULD HAVE DONE BEFORE ANYONE PACKED THEIR SKIS
1. A proper risk assessment covering all attendees, not just the ones on the slopes, but the ones who won’t be, can’t be or shouldn’t be.
2. A pre-departure conduct briefing off-site – alcohol and mixed groups is exactly the environment the harassment duty was written for.
3. An anonymous needs assessment that give people a safe way to flag mobility issues, health concerns or cultural considerations before they feel they have no choice but to say yes.
At People Vision HR we offer an independent review of your off-site event planning – the risk assessment, the policy and the questions that the person who planned the trip can’t also spot the gaps in.
Because the outside view is the one that sees what Charlotte missed.
We’re not here to stop the fun. We’re here to make sure it stays that way.